shifter return

I have only had my warrior for about a week, and only had the opportunity to ride it a few times. The last time I did, the shift lever was not wanting to return to the "neutral"(note: I dont mean shift into neutral) position when shifting, particularly when down shifting. I was having to pull the lever back up with my toe to return it and make it able to shift further. I lubed the little ball joint on the linkage, as well as the pivot point of the lever at the footpeg. That seemed to help, but just slightly. It will, however, shift through all the gears, both up and down. What would be the probable cause of this, and how would I go about troubleshooting it?
Thanks

Most of us have removed the sloppy linkage with a direct shifter. Any shifter made for a yz250f will work. Its much more responsive and you should be able to find neutral a little easier.

Also I'm not sure if I understand you right but you have to shift up from first to find neutral.

Inside the transmission there is a star and roller on the shift drum mechanism. I have heard of the roller wearing out before. I would try the yz shifter first, because you have to tear into the engine to fix the shift star mechanism.

Thanks for the responses. I couldn't think of another word to best describe the return position, and I was I figured it might sound as though I was talking about shifting the transmission into neutral. However, what I mean is the lever returning to the position that it rest in after pulling up or pushing down on it. It will shift into all gears, including neutral, and the reverse lever works, too. The problem is that when you move the lever to shift, it stays in the the place where it is moved, particularly when down shifting, and the lever has to be moved back (either up when down shifting, or down when up shifting) manually to proceed to the next gear. It is as if it has lost it's "spring" to do it its self. I have looked at exploded views of the transmission, and have noted two different torsion-type springs shown on the diagrams. I wonder if one of these could be the culprit?

Good possibility that the shift lever and it's pivot (part of the foot peg) needs to be lubed.

I had a similar problem with my kdx I had to open the engine to fix it

Gen1Pat said:

Good possibility that the shift lever and it's pivot (part of the foot peg) needs to be lubed.

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I did that, and I think it might have loosened it up. Well, to be honest, I didn't correctly lube it yet, as far as taking it off and greasing the pin it hinges on. I just sprayed it all down good with a penetrant and let it set. I say "think" because since I did, I haven't rode it. Just went out and moved it up and down by hand. I haven't had time to ride it since I first posted. but, I will find out later today if it's working, then give it a proper greasing.

tcwes8 said:

I had a similar problem with my kdx I had to open the engine to fix it

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What was it that you ended up fixing? I actual bought this for my son as a graduation present, and he has done most of the riding, which has only been a couple of hours tops since we picked it up. We gave it a pretty good testing before we purchased it and everything checked out really good. Of course, anything can break at any time.

For me it was the shift fork. it was not engaging the shift drum. but this was on a 02 kdx200. right after I rebuilt the whole engine so it was probably my falt.